Pot Smoke’s Divided Governments

Marijuana is an illegal drug in the United States. The federal government banned pot all the way back in 1937. Since then Uncle Sam has spent billions on destroying the noxious weed from all corners of the nation. Despite the governments best efforts however dope is hanging on.

Several states however are having trouble keeping it all straight. You see it’s legal in Colorado and Washington. Or is it? I just said it was illegal.

So confusing the subject that banks in places like Colorado won’t take cash from pot stores because they fear the U.S. will swoop in and clean out the kitty.

One town however just doesn’t care anymore and in a first-in-the-nation move opened a government owned pot shop. Yep it’s true.

The city of North Bonneville, Washington with a population of about 1,000 rural folks is the first to have a marijuana store owned by the city itself.

The Cannabis Corner reportedly sold $8,000 worth of pot on the very first day.

North Bonneville Mayor Don Stevens said the town had to do something to battle back, “The economy has been tough for everybody, for small towns like this, it’s been especially tough and I think after people got over the initial shock of how we were going about it they realized that what we’re doing is trying to create new revenue streams at a time not a lot of them are available.”

Stevens however is not popular with everyone. Detractors call him the "marijuana mayor" because he has been smoking pot since he was a sophomore in high school.

Stevens got the City Council to form a Public Development Authority for the sole purpose of selling pot right after voters legalized the drug. The cash from The Cannabis Corner will now be kicked back to City Hall but it came without the consent of the voters and that doesn’t sit well with a lot of folks. “I think it’s sad for the city,” said Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown. Adding, “I think it’s sad for society as a whole.”

The real question is whether the feds will let it fly or it will all go up in smoke.